DoubleClick Seller Acquires Data/Marketing Firm

Equity firm Hellman and Friedman just made a killing unloading DoubleClick for 3.1 billion, far more than the1.1 billion it paid for the firm. I found it interesting to read about H&F’s latest buy, as reported in The Wall Street Journal. Last week, the investors snapped up Catalina Marketing Corp. for 1.56 billion. The company puts data to use for marketers. Sound familiar?

Well, there is a real difference between DoubleClick and Catalina. DoubleClick employs client-owned data to manage and target Web ads. Catalina compiles millions of transactions each week from over 21,000 grocery stores, warehousing purchase histories of over 100 million household IDs. The company has three divisions serving manufacturers, healthcare firms and retailers.

Catalina does offer interactive services under its “Catalina Interactive” name. Here’s a bit more about that: Targeted in-store communications provide your consumers with a custom micro website link and unique promotional code to take part in an integrated brand experience….Whether you want to enhance existing loyalty/points programs, or create new online instant win/sweepstakes programs, Catalina Interactive is the efficient and effective solution.

Emotion can be very powerful when trying to reach an audience, and it can be boosted by linking it with the way memory affects human behaviour. How can all of this apply to the demanding mobile audience?